


Hereafter

by Jinglies



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Caretaking, Injury Recovery, M/M, Prescription Medication, T for Swearword, Vomit Mention, injury description, names used interchangebly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 03:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinglies/pseuds/Jinglies
Summary: Cherry's on the good painkillers and is being a fussy little brat, but he's still the one thing Joe's wanted more than anything for the past decade.A short scene of Kaoru letting Kojiro take care of him in the one way his pride will let him and them both loving it.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 6
Kudos: 202





	Hereafter

Kojiro opened the door slowly, trying hard to not let in any more light than he needed to. 

"Shut up." Kaoru said, voice hoarse "Stop that."

"Stop what?" 

Kaoru covered his eyes with his cast and made a scrunching motion with the other.

"What?" Kojiro asked again, mirroring the motion with his empty hand. 

Kaoru groaned and flopped back into the big Joe Big Man sized pillows. 

Kojiro scrunched with both hands and oh.

"Oh!" He said, crinkling the bag in his hand louder and louder. "Oh, sorry!" 

"Shut. Up." 

Kojiro hummed a little apology and gently sat on the bed, letting Kaoru weakly hit his thigh.

"You have to eat to take these," Joe started, gently extricating the medicine out of the little paper baggie out of the plastic store bag. "Or you'll vomit your own stomach lining."

"Gross." Cherry said flatly, "don't be gross." 

"Well, the pharmacy guy really hammered that into my head, I think he thought I was stupid or something." Kojiro said, pulling out a cup of yoghurt. 

"Well..."

"Remember who carries you to the bathroom."

Cherry's eyebrows pulled together, scratches pulling his skin tight but just picked up his yoghurt. 

"Very clever move." Kojiro leant in and gently kissed just above the bandage on Kaoru's temple. "Eat your sweets then you can have your medicine." 

Kaoru nodded, taking the small plastic spoon from the top and letting Joe pull open the foil top. 

Kojiro pulled his other leg up on the bed, getting fully on the bed and sliding up to Kaoru. 

"My head hurts." Cherry said, stirring his yoghurt. 

"Oh?" Joe looked at Kaoru, putting his arm gently over the pillow behind his back - careful to not nudge the red, raw looking rash from his big skid in the dirt - it was just visible over the bandage and neck of his loose Joe-Sized t-shirt. 

He was tempted to tease, to make Kaoru ask for what he wanted. 

But he just couldn't.

Not when Kaoru was slowly eating his little pot of strawberry yoghurt with his little plastic spoon, red flush just visible in the low light of the room. 

"Here." 

Kojiro - ever so gently - slid his hand to cup the back of Kaoru's head, minding his pressure to not aggravate the bruising at the very back of his head.

"Is this ok?" 

Cherry nodded slightly, the little pink yoghurt spoon in his mouth. 

Kojiro pressed slightly with the pads of his fingers, pressure light but just enough to make Kaoru hum happily and lean into it. 

Cherry struggled to keep his eyes open with the sudden relief from the pain that had been keeping him awake for the past few hours after he ran out of pain medicine. 

Joe kept at it, leaning further into the mass of pillows behind Kaoru to use both his hands, thumbs starting just behind Cherry's ears with the rest of his fingers splayed out, pressing small circles into into his head. 

"Better?"

Kaoru hummed, trying to nod a little, stretching his unbandaged leg until his toes clicked.

Kojiro held in his laugh, 

Cherry held up his empty yoghurt cup, shaking it a little. 

Joe picked it up and swapped it for 2 chalky looking painkillers. 

"Water." 

For a week now, Kaoru had been fussing and demanding and being a total brat.

He'd be mad, but all Kaoru had to do to chill him out was say a quiet little thank you or stare at him over his glasses with a slight flush on his face. 

"You really had it for me for all that time?" Cherry asked, un-broken arm lifting to trace the muscle definition on Joe's arm. 

"Yup."

"You washed blood out of my hair and changed my underpants at the hospital." 

"Sure did." 

"and you still like me?" 

"Mmhm, sure do." Kojiro answered, kissing the top of Cherry's head gently, scratching at his scalp to make him shiver. "Very much." 

"You saw me puke after my first beer - and you still like me?"

"You hadn't eaten, it was bound to happen." Joe said, kissing his head again. "I held your hair back too." 

"You did..." Kaoru said going to turn around and look at the man behind him, only to abort mission when his elbow had to bend to make that happen. "You did!" 

Joe laid down a little further, getting comfortable beside Kaoru as his slow blinking kept his eyes closed longer each time.

Kojiro carried him to this bed days ago and hadn't been allowed to leave his side unless to do his lordship's fussy bidding - pharmacy runs, pudding fetching, a couple hours of work here and there, cooking pasta or walking over to his place to get fresh clothes (at least until Cherry had started just stealing his t-shirts). 

"When my mouth stops bleeding so much, I want to kiss you so much." 

And of course, that was a new development. 

Cherry, tired and full of painkillers for his busted bones had spilled his guts on the whole thing - Adam, the endless pining, the incredible pull of Kojiro's idiot charms and how he finally felt it was right.

And he only denied it for 20 seconds the next day, going to kiss Joe but only ending up getting blood in his mouth and all down the front of Joe's white jacket from straining his sand-papered cheek.

But now, at least in the dark of his little recovery cave, he seemed to have accepted it.

Joe smiled in the dark and put his hand on Cherry's stomach, the one part of his body that wasn't covered in bruises and lacerations, rubbing a heavy, slow circle from under the top curve of his abs to just under his naval over the borrowed t-shirt. 

"I'll look forward to it." 

Cherry nodded a little, head dropping lower. 

"I need more pillows." 

"You have every pillow in my house." Joe said, smile still on his face and gestured to the mountain behind Kaoru's back.

"Even those."

He pointed to the 2 couch cushions elevating Cherry's wrapped ankle. 

Cherry groaned, pulling at his blanket. 

"Fix it." 

He lifted his wrapped wrist, the little clip pinged off at some point. 

Joe tried to gently lift Kaoru's wrist only to get a weak little slap. 

"Don't touch it, just fix it." 

Joe waited for Cherry to process what he'd just said. 

"Ah." 

"Yeah, I know." Kojiro said with a soft smile, picking up the offered wrist and gently fixed the bandage - lifting it up a little higher to give the scratched up knuckles on Cherry's hand a little kiss. 

"I still need more neck support, go to my house and get my big foam pillow." Cherry said, gently rolling into Joe's chest. "Or my plane pillow..."

"You really want me to get up right now? Walk all the way over there?" Kojiro asked, letting Kaoru's cast scratch as his arm as he gently grabbed onto Joe's arm as it rubbed his stomach. " _All_ the way over there? Leave you here?" 

Cherry hummed, eyes squeezing shut. 

"No." 

"I'll get it in the morning, your pills will kick in in a minute, try to sleep." Joe said quietly, planting a kiss on Cherry's head again. "I guarantee you won't give a shit very shortly."

The slow reaction to the little peck told him that Kaoru was feeling a lot less pain right now. 

Eventually, he'd extricate himself from the fussy bastard but for now Joe was content to watch the pain slowly fall off of Kaoru's face as he fell asleep, barely free cast-arm fingers grabbing at his forearm to make sure he hadn't moved. 

"G'night, love you." Kaoru said, voice hoarse with sleep. 

Joe couldn't help but smile at that. 

Well, until he got swatted at for his teeth making the room too bright. 

"Love you too." Joe said with a laugh in his voice. "Very much." 

**Author's Note:**

> He really got the shit kicked out of him so I imagine he's on the Very Powerful Painkillers, enjoying Joe's Joe-Sized bed and heart.
> 
> A quick little scene to put myself at ease because BOY he REALLY got HIT.


End file.
